Boat or scow



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

ABIJAH R. TEWKSBURY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOAT OR SCOW.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,949, dated August 16, 1853.

'same isfully described and represented in the following specification and in the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1, denotes a top view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3, a central, longitudinal and vertical section, and Fig. t a transverse and vertical section of one of my improved boats. Fig. 5 exhibits it, as it appears when its sides and ends or prow and stern are turned down into the same plane with the bottom.

The bottom A, of the boat is made flat. The sides B, and C, and the prow and stern or the two ends D, and E, are also made flat, and the whole is to be composed of wood iron or other suitable material. Each of the sides and ends is formed trapezoidal in shape, and is hinged or connected to the bottom, by means of a flexible water tight hinge or substance a, which will permit the side or end to be turned down into the same plane with the bottom, or turned up from such plane into such an angle with the bot.

tom, as will bring the side edges of such side or end into contact or nearly so with the two immediately adjacent side edges of the two adjacent sides or two ends, as the case may be. Those edges of either side and the two adjacent are to be connected by water tight flexible gores, F, F, made of india rubber or other flexible water tight material or materials. Each of which gores is to be made of such size as will allow the end and side to which it is connected to be turned down into the same plane with the bottom. as seen in Fig. 5.

Suitable hooks and staples (as seen at e, f,) or other proper contrivances -may be applied to the sides and ends to secure them in contact, when they are turned up against one another and at angles with the bottom.

A strap, Gr, may be applied to the upper corners of* each of the ends, and turned over the upper part of the adjacent gore and buttoned upon a button or stud, H. Both of the sides as well as both of the ends may be provided with ledges c, c, or (l, d, on

their inner surfaces, which ledges may be used to support the seats or thwarts e, e, &c., for the rowers or passengers, which seats or thwarts in order that they may not be lost may be attached to one of the sides by short ropes, f', f.

In the manufacture of these boats an entire sheet of caoutchouc, cloth, leather or other suitable material impervious to water may be used, and may be made to extend entirely between two plates, or forming each of the two sides, two ends or bottom of the boat. This mode of construction is illustrated in the gures, where g, may be supposed to indicate this water proof sheet placed between plates 71 z', and made large enough also to form the flexible gores.

A boat constructed in the above manner when unfolded takes up but very little space in comparison to what it occupies in a folded state, it generally requiring several of them piled one on top of the other, to make a pile the cubical contents of which would be equal to the space usually required for the boat when folded.

Boats so made will be found of great advantage on board of steambo-ats, or other vessels such as usually carry large numbers of passengers, as on account of the little room they take up many of these may be carried by any such vessel, and in case of accident, they may be used to great advantage in saving lives or property. Beside this, they will be found very useful to an army in the transportation of the material and personnel of the same across rivers and streams, and may often be used to advantage in the same manner as pontoons, and may be easily packed on or in wagons.

When the boat is manufactured from an entire sheet of india rubber, or flexible and water tight material, lined both outside and inside with plates or boards, cut in the shape of the ends and sides of the boat; should the boat be thrown violently against an object, and so as to break or stave the outer covering or plate of a side or end, it will most generally be the case, that the water tight and elastic rubber sheet will prevent leakage into the boat through such broken part.

I claim as my invention- The above described improved method of constructing a boat, viz., by attaching its sides and ends to its bottom, by water tight hinges, in combination with connecting the edges of the sides and ends by Water tight my signature this tWenty-rst day of Febflexible gores, substantially as described, ruary 1853.,

and so that the boat may be unfolded or the sides and ends be turned down into the ABIJAH R. TEWKSBURY.

5 plane of the bottom thereof as hereinbefore Witnesses:

explained. R. H. EDDY, In testimony whereof I have hereto set F. P. HALE, Jr. /A/V/'i 

